Neck circumference and cardiometabolic risk in children and adolescents: the moderator role of cardiorespiratory fitness

BackgroundThe increased incidence of cardiometabolic risk factors has become a public health issue, especially in childhood and adolescence. Thus, early identification is essential to avoid or reduce future complications in adulthood. In this sense, the present study aimed to verify the influence of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) as a moderator in the association between neck circumference (NC) and cardiometabolic risk in children and adolescents.MethodsCross-sectional study that included 2418 randomly selected children and adolescents (52.5% girls), aged 6 to 17years old. Anthropometric measurements, such as NC and body mass index (BMI), and CRF was measured by the six-minute running/walking test, as well as cardiometabolic risk (systolic blood pressure, glucose, HDL-C, and triglycerides), were assessed.ResultsFor all age groups, NC showed a negative relationship with CRF. A significant interaction term was found for CRF x NC with cardiometabolic risk for children (6 to 9years old), early adolescents (10 to 12years old), and middle adolescents (13 to 17years old). It was found that children who accomplished more than 1092.49m in CRF test were protected against cardiometabolic risk when considering NC. In adolescents, protection against cardiometabolic risk was found when the CRF test was completed above 1424.14m and 1471.87m (early and middle stage, respectively).ConclusionsCRF is inversely associated with NC and acts as a moderator in the relationship between NC and cardiometabolic risk in children and adolescents. Therefore, this detrimental health impact linked to fatness might be attenuated by improving CRF levels.

Automated summary

This study found that cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is inversely associated with neck circumference (NC) and acts as a moderator in the relationship between NC and cardiometabolic risk in children and adolescents. Increasing CRF levels may attenuate the detrimental health impact associated with fatness.